College Football Predictions – Utah St Aggies 2020 College Football Preview
July 2020
OCTOBER 2020 – Schedule notes updated.
2019 Recap
Record – 7-6
ATS – 7-6
It wasn’t quite the season that the Aggies were hoping for but they still managed to cobble together seven wins and make their 8th bowl game in nine years (!). They beat pretty much everyone that they should have beaten and lost to some good teams during the regular season (at Wake Forest, at LSU, at Air Force, Boise St). They didn’t have enough punch in the Frisco Bowl and lost to a JUGGERNAUT Kent St team to end the campaign.
Let’s see what head coach Gary Andersen has to work with in year two of his second stint in Logan.
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
Mountain Division – TBD
Mountain West – TBD
Utah St Aggies 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
It’s going to be strange watching the Aggies this year without star QB Jordan Love under center. Love followed up his stellar 2018 campaign (3,567, 32-6 TD to INT) with a bit of a disappointing 2019 season in which he tossed 17 (!) INTs (20 TD). There were a ton of new faces at WR LY but that’s still a lot of PICKS. Love is off to the NFL (Packers) and backup Henry Colombi has entered the transfer portal as we approach press time. Former Utah Utes QB Jason Shelley has transferred to Logan and is just might be the new starter. Keep tabs on this situation. Leading rusher Gerold Bright has moved on and it will be up to RB Jaylen Warren to do the majority of the rushing work as the #1 RB (569, 5.1, 5 TD LY). Utah St loses #1 WR Siaosi Mariner (10 TD, NFL – Raiders) but have four of the top-five WRs back in the mix and will be set at that position. Hopefully, they can achieve chemistry with whomever wins the starting QB gig in short order. The best news on this side of the ball is the return of five starters to the offensive line.
Utah St was #3 in the conference LY in total offense (431 YPG) and #6 in scoring offense. It’s hard to see them improving with the loss of Jordan Love but maybe new OC Bodie Reeder (from North Texas) can get these guys firing on all cylinders faster than we expect? <grabs popcorn>
DEFENSE
Utah St took regressed in a yuuuuge way last year and allowed 30+ PPG (30.7) for the first time since 2010 (!). They were abysmal vs the run (#10 MW, #110 FBS run defense) and #10 in the conference in pass efficiency defense. There’s reason to be concerned this year as only return five starters and will move on without star LB David Woodward who declared for the NFL draft. A lot of depth was lost on the DL and that could be problematic. Things looks better at LB with the return of two of their top-three tacklers (Troy Lefeged, Kevin Meitzenheimer) and note that Nick Heninger tied for the team lead in sacks LY (5). They look a bit weaker in the secondary this year, especially at CB.
This looks like an average Mountain West defense on paper but they have definitely surprised us before with better than expected performance.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Argh. Their excellent PK Dominik Eberle is a yuuuuge loss (45/45 XP, 22/25 FG LY) and they will need to break in a new punter. Don’t sleep on return man Savon Scarver who is one of the most DEADLY return men in the country.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – They drew the short end of the stick with the scamdemic schedule as they draw Boise St (A) and San Diego St (H) from the West division. Most of their tough games are in the front end of the docket.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing heinous noted.
Season Win Total
TBD
MEGALOCKS says:
TBD
MEGAmazing Tidbit
Utah St has the distinction of being the only FBS team to win a bowl game whilst scoring 50+ points and then lose a bowl game the next year whilst allowing 50+ points. They hammered North Texas 52-13 in the 2018 New Mexico Bowl and were upset by Kent St in last year’s Frisco Bowl (L 51-41). Amaze the HOTTIES at your local PIGGLY WIGGLY with that trivia nugget.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
This team is definitely talented enough to make a bowl game IF they can figure out the quarterback position. We suppose you could say that about any team but if they get above-average play at that position they can definitely get to six wins and make a bowl game. That is a reasonable goal this year as we highly doubt they can compete for a division crown.
Want more Utah St Aggies Football ?
WEBSITE
https://utahstateaggies.com/sports/football
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NEWS
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/328/utah-state-aggies
http://www.deseretnews.com/sports/usu
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/usu/
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